Snow melteb and plow



- May 2s, 192s) m. 16,081

F. A; coNN'oLLY SNOW KELTER PLOW origina Enea July 12. 1924 A TTRNEY Fra/w76 f2. Canna ly l Reimer `May 26, 1925.

UNITED STATES FRANK A. CONNOLLY, F POMIPTON LAKES, NEW' JERSEY.

snow MELTER AND PLOW.

origina no. 1,526,903, ama

February 17, 1925, Serial No. 725,591, led Iuly 12, 1924,. Application for reissue led April 8, 1925. Serial No. 21,723.

To all whom I? may concern.' a

Be itknown that I, FRANK A. CoNNoLLY, a citizen of the United States, and a' resident of Pompton Lakes, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey have invented a new and useful Snow Melter and Plow, of

which the following is a full, clear, and

exact description.

My invention relates to snow plows of a type 'in which a fire box is associated with the plow in such a wa as to heat the plow head and melt most i not all of the snow it,` encounters while Jthe unmelted snow, if there be any, is pushed to one side.

' Another object of my invention is to rovide a construction which may be used 1n connection with a propelling vehicle for removing snow from streets or roadsY and which construction can also be` made in a smaller size to be propelledv by hand for clearing sidewalksvand paths. f

A further object of my invention is to provide a special form of fire box fittedV with a heat generating device inl which the snow -which is not immediately melted by Contact with the face of the plow head, is brought directly into contact with the heat generator or with highly heated air or gas from the* generator, and the melted snow is then carried oli' in channels through one side .of the fire box.

Still another object is to provide a ,self contained-snow plow and melter in; lhich the fuel forfthe burners is carried in y rvoir'supp'orted bythe frame of the'p with these and other objects in viewiiiy 3. invention consists 1n certain novel features of construction and'combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and defined in the claims. -In the accompanying drawings: y

Figure 1 is a plan v1ew of my snow plow and melter; 1 C Fig. 2 is a. side elevation of same; Fig. 3 is a section through the plow head taken on the line 3--3 o f Fig. 1';

Figs. 4 and 5 are partly diagrammatic views showing in plan view two modifica-l tions of my snow plow and melter.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the nu.`

meral 10 is yused to designate a pair of side frame members which may be attached at the rear end to any 'suitable' propelling v ehicle, 'a portin'of 'which is indicated at 11.

` of the vehicle.

. port in its At their forward end the members 10 are secured to the plowhead 12. The latter, as best indicated 1n Fig. 1, is set up at such an angle with the axis oftl1e'-vehicle,'that when the vplow is pushed forward against the snow, such of the Vsnow "as is not'melted, will be forced to one side out of the 'path In order to take the thrust of the' snow against the plow, brac-es 13 areprovided leading from the top of the plow head to the frame members 10. Depending from the lower edge of the frame members` 10, are the bearing blocks v14, which 'support a shaft 15 on which are mounted the wheels 16. These wheels are adapted to run on. thevroad or streetand support the plow head so that it just clears the road way. A pair of brackets 17 are carried by the frame members l() and support a tank 18 in which is stored the fuel for the burners. v

The plow head 12 is in the form of a receptacle or box 19 closed on V,the forward-side by a perforated plate 20. This'plate is hinged to the box by means of hinges 21 at the top of' the box and is normally se- .cured in closed position by means of hasps lwithin the fire box iiows down these channels to openings 24l in the after side of the box. The rear wall of the box 19 is formed with openings through which are projected a series of burners 25 adapted to heat the plate 20. These are distributed throughout the rear face of the box and receive a supply o f lfuel through pipes 26 connected to pipe 27 whichleads to the bottom of the tank 18. A valve 28 controls the iiow of fuel to the pipe 27. Each burner is also provided with a valve 29to control the. amount of fuel fed to it. The isprovided with a filling gof'face which is closed by thefplow is pro elled by any forcing the p ow head into means of a cap In'-.nplaf'fmi:y suitable Yell" the snow', i the hot plate S20. Plate 20 is heated by the ezsnow piles up against burners and most of the snow that contacts with the hot plate is melted. Some of the perforations of the plate 20 and will melted by contact with the hot gases from the burners 25. The perforations in the hot plate 20 will prevent such a largeaccumula-l the snow, however, will be forced through e.

tion of snow within the fire box as to block A the burners and extinguish them. The snow shown in Figs. land -2 as passing through the perforated plate 20 must enter the fire box in the yform of fila- -ments or shreds which expose a large surface to the heated gases an the iilaments of snoware melted as fast as they enter. The resultant water then Hows down the channels formed by the flanges 23 and openings 24 atthe after-si e of the plow head.

yIf snow is melted so rapidly as not to enter theperforations in solid form it will pass through them in liquid form and flow off through the' channels formed by anges 23 thus a means is provided for carrying oi the water from melted snow through the hot platepreventing the accumulation of a. thick film of water between the hot plate and the unmelted snow, which film would act as a heat insulator. f

In order -to provide for ventilation, ports `31 are provided in the top of the fire box. Air is supplied through the jackets32 and the products of combustion pass out through the openings 31. When it is rdesired tol adjust the burners or clean them, the plate 2O ma be swung upward on its hinges.

he pressure of the snow against the plate 20 may be considerable and Vhence the [langes 23 are employed to serve the double purpose of forming channels and stiifening the plate against buckling. v

As explained above, such snow as is not melted by penetration into fire box or .by contact with the heat plate 20 will be scraped to'one side out of the way of the propelling vehicle. This result will occur 'only in case of a. very heavy'snow, as. the snow melter is designed to melt all ordinary fal'lswof snow. If the depth of snow is slight, the upper burners 25 maybe cut oif by turning valves 29 so that only the lower portion of the fire box'is heated. v lWhile my snow plow and melter has been attached tothe frame .of the vehicle, it will be readily apparent that the device may be made on a smaller scale for use :on i paths and sidewalks; the frame members 10 will then serve as handles by which the device can be propelled by hand.

I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details of construction shown in Figs. l 'to 3. changes `can 'be made from this construction without departing from the spirit land scope of my invention. For example I have shown Iclined one ours out of the ditions the. snow will enter frame of the plow,

It will be evident that material.,

two modifications of my invention in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 4, al double plow head is used, the two parts of the head being into the other to form a V-shaped plow. While in Fig. 5 the plow is of arcuate formas viewed from above. In Fig. 4 two perforated plates 20 are used which are hlnged on vertical hinges at the point of v the plow so that access to the fire box may be had by swinging the plates to the positions shownby broken lines. In Fig. 5, a single arcuate plate 20 is used which is hinged to the fire box at one edge thereof onvertical hinges. The broken line shows the' plate swung to anopen position.

Under certain conditions it will not be necessary to use the heating element in connection with my plow, as orinstance, when the snow is light and flaky, under such conthe plow head tlirough'the perforated plates, being compressed' therein, and will be discharged through thela-teral openings in the box, being laidat the side of the road in a ridge of reduced volume or, if a V-shaped or an arcuate plow head is used, in two ridges bordering the path of the low. I therefore do not wish to limit myse :f to the combination of a heating element with my perforated plow head 'but contemplate using my improved plow without heat under certain conditions.

In some forms of plowy heads, it may not he necessary tol use the supportingwheels 1G and I do not wish to limit myself to the use of such wheels. The plow head could rest on the ground and be scraped along the road surface. The fuel tank could be supported on the propelling vehicle rather than on the but there are distinct advantages in imposing the weight of the tank and fuel on the plow in order to keep lthe plow from riding upward on the snow instead of plowing into it. It will also be evident that the plow head, instead of standing vertically as shown inF-ig. 2, could be inclined with its lower ed e leading the upper edge so that snow would:r pile up on the plate 23 and expose a larger surface to the heat of the burners.

These and other sli ht modifications of construction are inelued within the scope of my invention and I do not wish to limit myself to the precise construction shownin the drawings.

I'claim:

1. A -machine for plowin snow comprising a plow head adapted to e propelled into the snow, the plow head being formed with a chamberl therein and with an` opening to permit snow to enter the chamber and with plate forming the front Wall o f thereceptacle, said plate being formed with ports for the admission of snow into the receptacle, said receptacle being formed with lateral ports for the discharge of snow.

ln a machine ofthe character described, a plow head comprising a chamber formed with lateral discharge ports, a plate constituting the front. Wall of the chamber and formed with ports for the admission of snow into the chamber, and means in the chamber for guiding the snow therein to Said discharge ports. r

A machine for plowing-'and melting snow comprising a plow head adapted to be propelled into the snow, the plow head being formed with a fire box therein and being further formed with openings to permit a portion of the snow to enter the fire box, and means for discharging said portion after it has been melted. y

5. ln a machine of the character described, a plow head comprising a lire box having heat generating means therein, and a plate forming the front Wall of the plow head, the plate being formed with ports for the admission of snow to the heat' generating .lllClllS- v ,6, l n a machine of the character described, a plov head comprising a fire box vand Ihaving a perforated.plate forming the front all of thelire box, heat generating means in the fire box, the fire box being formed vwith discharge openings, and-flanges on the rear face of the perforated plate forming channels leading to said openings.

7. ln a machine of the character described, a plow head comprising a fire ..box, a perforated plate hinged on the firebox and forming the front Wall thereof, flanges carried by the perforated plate to reinforce the same against buckling, the flanges being inclined and formed to serve as channels, and means for holding the plate in closed posiy tion.

8. In a machine of the character described,

a plow headeomprising a fire box having a perforated front Wall, burners fitted into the fire box, the fire boxvbeing formed with ventilation openings and With discharge openings, and a fuel reservoir adapted'to feed fuel to the burners..

9. In a machine of the character described, a plow head comprising a fire box having a perforated front Wall, burnersfitted into the fire box, the fire box being formed with ventilation openings and with discharge openings, a' fuel reservoir adapted -to feed fuel tothe burners, and means for cutting 'olf the supply of fuel to the burnersindi-l vidually.

10. ln a machine of the -character described, a plow head comprising a fire box having a perforated front Wall, burners fitted' into the'fire box, the fire box being formed with ventilation openings and with discharge openings, a fuel reservoir adapted to feed fuel to the burners, and a valve on each burner adaptedto Cut off the supply of fuel thereto.

11. A method of melting snow which conc,

sistsin shredding thesnow and. exposing l the shreds to the hot gases of a burner.

l2. A method of melting snow which consists in shredding the snow, exposing the shreds to a burner, and conveying the melted product from the burner.

13. A method of melting snow-by direct contact with the flame of a'burner which consists in passing the snow through a perforated plate Wherebythe snow is formed into shreds, and exposing the shreds to the r`flame of the'burner.

14. A method of Amelting snow in Which-a. fire box fitted with burners and having a perforated faceplate is forced into the snow causing a part of the snow to enter the fire box in the form of shreds thereby1 exposing to the burners a large surface area relative to the mass of snow, and discharging the melted snow from the fire box.

' FRANK A. CONNOLLY. 

